We’re all familiar with Wikipedia, and back on January 30th I explained the origin of that name.
(And, let’s be honest, we all consult Wikipedia more often than we’d like to admit to!)
Well, there is a competitor that I hadn’t heard of before, until British journalist Richard Godwin drew it to my attention.
It is called ‘Grokipedia’—and is an AI powered online encyclopaedia created by and for Elon Musk.
It started out as an AI powered chatbot on the net called ‘Grok’ (which has had a bit of bad press lately by allowing users to set up artificially created naked pictures of whoever they fancy—including celebrities or even, alarmingly, children).
I checked out ‘Grokipedia’ (well, superficially, since I only consulted two entries) and found I didn’t like the look of it.
Where Wikipedia offers black text on a white background ‘Grokipedia’ (very irritatingly) uses white text on a black background.
Why on earth would they do anything as ugly and hard to read as that?
Richard Godwin writes: ‘some internet-users have complained’ that Grokipedia is ‘full of inaccuracies and shows (they claim) clear evidence of algorithmic tampering.’
He goes on to report complaints that it reads horribly and often just really dumb.
Now, I don’t endorse any of those complaints—because I don’t know whether they are true or not.
What puzzles me is—why?
Because Wikipedia is there why bother trying to set up a competitor?
Wikipedia is not in the hands of a tech billionaire but is created by tens of thousands of volunteers who write and edit the pages (and, from time to time, there are appeals for modest donations from users to keep it alive).
Having said all that, I must admit that the entry on me in Grokipedia is mostly correct.
But, sorry Elon, I can’t see the need for it.
Mr Musk should stick to Space X and get us to Mars!
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BY THE WAY...
If you'd like to see my A-Z list of Aussie slang, you'll find it here in the Australian Geographic website -- A-Z list of Aussie slang. Here’s the link: The A-Z of Aussie slang - Australian Geographic
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